The Vaughn Vaults Story
by Sneaselgirl
Summary: My first fanfic.; Story following that popularly antisocial, emo cowboy who've I've fully named Vaughn Waltz Vaults. Lots of twist and turns in this story behind the story of the Island of Happiness game.
1. The Invitation

Hey this is the first fanfic I have ever written, and I have been fighting over whether or not I should write it at all. Anyway, this is the behind the scences story of everyone's favorite emo cowboy. I've taken it upon myself to give him the full name of Vaughn Waltz Vaults (where did I get that totally original name from?), gave him one living family member, and hopefully a deeper than his already deep personality. I follow his life on and outside of the island, reintroduce old characters and places, and even might throw in a new character every now and then. I'm still putting a lot of thought into this story so bear with me.

~~~~~~~~~~  
Chapter 1- The Invitation

Vaughn was in the back stable of the barn brushing the pregnant cow he had affectionately named Bess. She was too weary at the moment to stand for any lenght of time, so she was content to just lay there and let Vaughn gently brush her.

Except today he wasn't brushing her as softly as he usually did. In fact, he was brushing so hard it almost felt like sandpaper on her hide.

Vaughn's mind, like it usually was when he cared for the animals, was elsewhere. And as it often was, it wasn't anywhere pleasant. Today, it was worst still.

He was thinking about what had happened two days ago.

After getting a call from the Yodel ranch, he had shipped a young calf to Mineral town before taking it down to a ranch in the Forget-Me-Not Valley. It had been the first time that Dale let him deliver there, so he was determined to run into as few people as possible.

And for good reason.

______

Soon after arriving he was passing a large farm when he stopped, took off his hat, and checked the slip to see if this was the place he was looking for.

After seeing it wasn't, he started to pull the calf on when he heard a shout from the farm house. An extremely angry looking, and quite hefty woman came charging out the door holding a pitchfork.

"Hey you! Stop right there!!!" She shouted, charging at him. "You thought you could just waltz back into my farm and steal my crops aga.."

She suddenly stopped just short of striking him the moment she saw his face.

A tall young man and a scared young woman appeared at the door, drawn to the commotion.

The man took one look at the man in front of his sister and charged as well.

"Why you little bas.."  
"Wait Marlin! It ain't him!"

He paused halfway from the door. "Are you sure, Vesta?"

"Sure I'm sure. This here's a stranger. Has different eyes too. It can't be him!"

Vesta turned back to Vaughn, who had put his hat back on and pulled it low over his eyes to hide the rage burning in them.

"Where ya headed, Stranger?" she asked with a huge grin on her face, completely failing to apologize for nearly impaling with a pitchfork.

Vaughn just looked away and motioned the to calf, which surprisingly had almost fallen asleep during the "break".

"Oh, ya delivering a calf, are ya! Well, seeing as I don't raise any livestock, you must be looking for the Kute ranch up yonder! Well, its just pass this bridge and on your second right, it is"

Still not looking her way, Vaughn nodded the slightest as humanly possible and made his way before she could say another word.

"Well, he's just a basket of sunshine, now isn't he?" spat Marlin.

"Well, you both almost attacked him. How would you feel?" sighed Celia.

When he got to the Kute ranch, he just tied the calf to a post, knocked once on the door and was a ways off before the brunette could open the door and catch sight of him.

_____

"Moooouuh!"

Bess was just about fed up now. Vaughn had been rubbing a spot so hard that it had begun to turn red.

He quickly snapped out of his daydream, knowing all too well what an angry, expectant cow could do to him no matter how much she liked him.

"Got your head in the clouds again, have you?"

Vaughn quickly turned around to see his boss, Dale Cleave, standing behind him. He relaxed just a little.

"Something bothering you? You've been sulking around more than usual since coming back from that last delivery."

"It's nothing," he lied.

Dale looked at him with concern in his eyes, which only made Vaughn tense up more. He wanted to press, but knew better than that. Vaughn was like a son to him, but he knew when things were useless to talk about. And with Vaughn, it was never a good time to talk about anything.

Dale cleared his throat, searching for something else to talk about.

"Oh yeah. I remember now. My sister called. Seems she was told by a friend that their family and some others were going to try to revive this old island and they needed an animal shop to help the local rancher. She told me that she's already there with Julia and that the locals are really nice."

Vaughn went back to brushing Bess, this time alot more carefully as he listened.

"...And they told me that they'll be needing some livestock down there soon, so I thought ...."

Vaughn stopped and looked straight into Dale's eyes. Somehow, he didn't like where this was going.

"It'll be fine! I promise. She said everyone's as sweet as can be, AND that the island is the most quiet, relaxing place you've ever seen. She was sure it would be the perfect place for you to relax and, well..."

Vaughn slowly stood up and let out a deep sigh. It seemed that everyone was out to change him. So what if he kept to himself!

But then, his aunt Mirabelle had always looked out for him. Plus, she always had the best intentions whenever she tried to "help" him.

Maybe it wouldn't be SO bad to take a trip to see his aunt and cousin every once in a while. Maybe he could even bum off a few days and just relax without any worries whenever he went. A nice quite island with few people to avoid....

Dale stood quietly as he watched Vaughn stare at the wall.

"So?"

He turned around to face his boss, his face expressionless as it usually was when he talked to people.

"Alright."


	2. A Social Confrontation

1Chapter Two- A Social Confrontation

Vaughn wearily walked down from the ship to the pier where his aunt and cousin were waiting. He was sick to his stomach from to rocking of the ship the entire trip to the island. He always hated transporting animal across to sea.

Mirabelle looked up at him with with motherly concern, as if she could feel his pain.

The two calves and the three chickens he had brought for them had already been brought off the ship ahead of him, and she was preparing to head for the store.

"You all right?" she asked when he finally got down to the pier.

"Just a little seasick," he mumbled under his breath. He took a deep breath, and then looked around him.

There wasn't much to see at the beach, just sand, a large rock in the distance, and a rickety old shack close by. Straight ahead was a path which seemed to lead into the inner part of the island, but he could barely make out a few houses.

Mirabelle and Julia had already started heading down the path and were a ways away before he snapped back to attention. He slowly but quickly made his way back up to them, his stomach still not quite settled from the trip.

Mirabelle lead the way through town leading the calves, while Julia struggled to keep hold of the chickens. Vaughn stayed close, surveying the buildings he passed. Most still looked pretty run down and there wasn't a sound coming from any of them.

"Seems like everyone is still asleep," sighed Julia, catching the same train of thought as him. "It should get a little busier soon though."

After putting the animals away in the back stalls, Mirabelle began to set up shop while Julia cooked breakfast.

Seeing he had nothing to do at the moment, Mirabelle suggested that he go out and introduce him self to the locals, starting with the rancher.

And that's how it started. The most annoying person Vaughn would ever meet answered the door to the tiny farm house.

Vaughn could instantly smell trouble when she opened the door and just stared at him.

He stared back for a second, but something about those big blue eyes made him uncomfortable.

"Uhmm," Vaughn cleared his throat, trying to keep a straight face. " Hi. Name's Vaults, I'm the animal shipper for the Cleave's shop."

"Hi yourself," She said not taking her eyes off him. "I'm Chelsea, the rancher here I guess. Are you goning to be staying here with the Cleaves?"  
Vaughn avoided her eyes, already wanting to leave as soon as possible. "No, I'll only be here for a few days a week."he said suddenly glad about the arrangment.

He wasn't keen on being asked such prying questions by the first person he met, and this girl seemed strange to him. She had this sweet and innocient look in her eyes like someone who wanted to make friends with everyone. Her personality just seemed so alien compared to his.

She was still staring at him with that look in her eyes, so he just quit trying to make small talk and turned to leave with a small " See ya."

He was back at the shop helping out by putting bags of food away on shelves. He was glad to be finished with greeting the locals, all of whom were more bearable than that Chelsea-girl.

He had just finished putting the last bag of petfood up when who else, Chelsea came through the door.

Great now what!?

"Well, hello Chelsea! How are you?" asked Mirabelle happy to see a potential customer. "we just got some animals in this morning."

"Thanks, but I still don't even have a coop yet. I just came by to see Vaults"

_Oh great, here she comes..._

"Hmm, Vaughn? Oh, he's just in the back stocking."

_Thanks a lot Auntie...._

Chelsea turned and started almost skip-walking towards him. She still had that innocient look shining in her eyes.

Vaughn could feel himself forming a barrier between them as she got closer and hoped she wouldn't try to break through. He did his best to ignore her until she was literally standing over him.

"Hey." she said playfully tapping him on the shoulder.

He took a deep breath and said, "What?"

When she didn't answer, he turned to see her just standing there, staring at him with those big blue eyes. "Just came to say hi," she said beaming at him.

"Hmph," he grunted, turning away, hoping she would get the message.

"Whatcha doing?"  
Julia, sitting in the kitchen looked up from her tea to watch them. She could already tell how this would end.

Vaughn tried to ingore her in the hopes that she would get a clue and go away, but Chelsea just hovered around him tossing little questions his way. The more he didn't answer, the more she asked.

"Where you from? Are you a cowboy? Do you like working with animals? What's USI? Is that your real hair color? Can you tell me a little about raising cows? What kind of places do you go to? What's......?"

It was more than he could take. "Shut up and go away! You are so ANNOYING!!!"

Taken aback, Chelsea just stood there, stunned. Tears were almost starting to form in her deep blue eyes.

Vaughn, still pretty annoyed, brushed past her and walked out the door. He was starting to feel that he had went a little overboard, though.

Mirabelle stood stunned, looking at the door and back at Chelsea. She hadn't been paying attention to the whole encounter and was shocked by the outburst.

Tears were starting to run down Chelsea's face, and she too ran out the door.

"Don't worry mom, I'll go talk to her!" Julia said running after her.

"Chelsea wait!" she yelled catching up with her about halfway up to the ranch. "He didn't mean to yell at you. He just gets that way around new people sometimes."

"Well. he didn't have to be so rude!" she sobbed through tears.

"He really didn't mean to be. He's not much of a people person, and you do come on a little strong around people. He just needs time to get used to you. Now come on I'm sure we can go find him and get him to apologize..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
I don't really know why I chose to make Vaughn so rude in this chapter or why I made Chelsea a bit of a twit, thats just the way it came out and I don't feel much like changing it. Not as good as I would want my second chapter to be, but still feels good for my story.

Like it or love it. I felt kind of rushed and changed alot of stuff in this chapter to get it like it is. I feel like I could have gone on forever putting all the details and such and writting every scene. Just goes to show I don't have such great writting skills.

Of course if you disagree, feel freee to say so. I just feel that way because I'm tired at the moment and can't think clearly.


	3. Vaughn in the Valley

1Chapter Three- Vaughn in the Valley

It had been a few days since Vaughn's outburst towards Chelsea.

~  
Julia had dragged her to him and demaned that he apologize that second. He was already going to since he felt guilty about having made her cry, but being demanded to do so only resulted in the following response:

"Geez', Julia alright! I'm sorry that she was pestering me with annoying little questions while I working, trying to help you get your crummy little shop together!"

Which of course didn't go over well with Julia at all and led to them having a ten minute arguement.

Normally not one to let her anger get a hold of her, Chelsea finally blurted out, "Enough!! You want to be all touchy about giving a little 'I'm sorry', then fine! I"M sorry, you doucebag!! Alright! Now it's settled! Just go back on living your sulky little life. Sorry I ever met you."

She thought she saw something sad flicker in his eyes for a moment, but whatever it might have been was instantly washed away by the most vicious hatred she had ever seen. She was taken aback for a moment, expecting to recieve a response to match that look, but Vaughn just pulled his hat lower over his eyes and stalked off, cursing under his breath.

Yet as he turned he thought he saw something in her eyes as well...

He didn't see her again the rest of the time he was there on the island. When he had got back to the shop, he got a stern talking to from Mirabelle when she caught wind of what happened. He took it all a little distractedly and apologized, never one the show disrespect to his aunt.

Julia was still pouting around and giving him the cold shoulder all the next day, so he went to blow off some steam in the deserted part of town. He stayed there for a few hours, just wandering about there abandoned buildings, only ever running into this redhead named Natalie.

She stopped to talk to him briefly, as she was blowing off some steam of her own.

"Hey, looks like your having problems of your own, huh," she said dismissively, staring off into the distance.

"Yeah, you?"

"Me?" she sighed, " I'm just here because my brother's being a dweeb again. Sometimes when I get so worked up that I want to hit him, I just gotta get away for a minute, ya know? Little good it does ya to waste time on some annoying brat."

Vaughn just let out a slight "Hmmph"

"Well, see ya. Looks like I'd better get home since its getting dark..."  
He watched her go, looked up at the sky, and decided he'd better get back too.

After packing his bags he made his way to the beach to catch his ship back home. Only Mirabelle helped him carry his stuff there, even though it wasn't much.

When they heard the ship in the distance he felt he should say something.

"Aunt, I'm sorry about.." he began.

"Don't worry about it" she said, cutting him off. "There's always next week."

She smiled after him as he got on the boat. As he began to look through his stuff, he found a chocolate bar. He figured it was from his aunt, to help settle his stomach for the boat ride home...

~  
Now he was back it Bess's stall, putting in some fresh fodder for her.

Dale came around the corner suddenly, startling him. He seemed to have a smile on his face that told Vaughn he was going on a delivery soon.

"Where to this time," he sighed.

"Back to the Forget-Me-Not Valley."

"Oh. Joy."

~

At least this time around, Vaughn didn't have any trouble in leading the brown calf through the valley.

As he walked past Vesta's house, she looked up from her fields and waved at him, but he continued on like he hadn't seen her.

He finally arrived at the Kute ranch once again and was surprised to see a brunette waiting there for him. He figured she must be the rancher since he hadn't seen who it was the last time he was there.

Jill, who had wanted to meet the dealer since she had missed him the last time, started to came towards him just as he took his hat off to wipe away the sweat on his brow.

"Oh, thank you so mu- Skye!?"

"Excuse me?" Vaughn said, putting his hat back on and giving her a cold look.

"Oh, umm, its just..." she sputtered, turning red and looking away from his cold stare. "I'm sorry, I just mistook you for someone else."

"Yeah, like who?" he asked, already knowing the answer.  
"No-no one! Just a friend of mine! Nice guy. Sure you've never met!"

She continued to turn red with embarassment at the accusing look Vaughn was giving her until he just thrust the lead to the calf at her.

"Yeah, never met," he huffed, turning away and heading back down the path. Jill just stood there dumbstruck, holding the calf as she watched him go.

I gotta learn to start leaving my hat on around this place, he thought to himself as he got farther from the ranch.

Vaughn would have loved to start heading home right then, but unfortunately, Dale had sent him on a late boat there and he would have to wait until morning for the next one. He said it wouldn't matter, since they didn't have anything to do the next day, so Vaughn could enjoy some time away and stay at the inn.

Dale was just so clueless sometimes.

After getting his room key from Ruby, the innkeeper, he decided to head out to the bar he saw next door.

Vaughn was glad to see that hardly anyone was there when he walked in. There was just the bartender, the barmaid, and a young boy in a blue hat that was talking to her.

He took a seat at the counter, just a few seats down from the boy.

"Welcome to the Blue Bar. What can get ya?" asked the bartender.

"Just a Summer Heat, please" he sighed, almost taking his hat off again.

As he started on his drink, the conversation at the other end of the counter picked up.

"I don't know what I'm going to do, Muffy. I just can't seem to find where I fit in around here." said the boy with the blue hat.

"Well, you said that maybe you wanted to work on a ranch, just like grandpa did. Isn't that why you went to try to work for Vesta?"

"Yeah, but she says I'm just so useless at everything. No matter what I do, I can't seem to do anything right. I'm starting to wonder if moving here was such a good idea."

"Well, you could always move back home if you wanted to. You've been at this for over a month with no success."

"Yeah, go back home to mom and dad like some loser," he sneered. "I'm trying to prove I'm old enough to make my own living, remember sis? That's the last thing I need."  
"Well, Mark, if you want I could always ask Griffin to give you a job here. How about that?"

He looked away sheepishly and said, "Well, I don't think so. It may be okay for you, but..."

"Look little bro," she huffed. "There is nothing wrong with being a Barmaid. At least I make money."

"So. You still don't have your own place. All you have is a room upstairs."

"Well, at least its better than that old cottage Romania let you use on her property. That place is so creepy it makes my skin crawl. You know, they say that crazy old lady that used to live there was a witch?"

"Well then, maybe I just might find one of her spellbooks and conjure you up a boyfriend. No way you'll get one otherwise!"

As they started to argue, the door opened and Vesta's crew came in followed by several other people. Vaughn, who was just about finished with his drink, decided it was getting to busy for his liking. He paid for his drink and headed out the door before anyone noticed him.

It was getting late, but Vaughn wasn't ready to check in for the night. He decided to go for a walk and headed down a path along the river. There didn't seem to be anyone who lived down this way so he was glad he didn't run into anyone.

The path led down to a wooded area that almost seemed cut off from the world. At last, it stopped at a beautiful pond, almost made magical by the moonlight.

Vaughn sat down at the edge and looked over it in silence. It was strangely calming, looking at the mirror like surface. He felt like he could stay there forever, and just forget about all of his worries.

Within a few minutes, he had nearly forgotten about all of the troubles he had had over the last few days. About his first visit to the valley, about the the arguement on the island, about being confused twice with this certain person who always seemed to get him in trouble....

He was totally at peace. Nothing in the world could trouble him now. He could finally rest for a bit without any worries....

"Well hello, Cowboy. Walking alone at night?"


	4. Brothers

1Chapter Four- Brothers

Vaughn sat bolt upright att the sound the voice behind him.

It was a voice he hadn't heard in a long time.

A voice he never wanted to hear for the rest of his life.

Not since.....

He got to his feet and slowly turned around, his eyes to the ground, to face the stranger.

But this was no stranger, for Vaughn knew him well.

He slowly lifted his eyes to take in the silver haired, leopeard-printed meneance, the deepest malice burning in his violet eyes at what he saw before him.

That Phantom of the night, self-proclaimed Prince-of-the Stars, just looked back, pain, fear and sorrow threatening to to show in his pale greens.

They stood there, for what seemed an eternity within a few moments, just staring at each other.

"How've you been, little brother..." Skye sighed at last.

__

"Hurry up Vu-vu! We'll never make it to the next town at this rate!"

It was the the begining of winter, and the first snow was starting to fall. The world seemed to get quietier, and the wood lay silent as two boys trougded through the coming darkness.

The smaller one had fallen behind and was resting on a fallen log. He shivered at the cold and pulled his scarf up over his violet eyes, as if to prevent them from freezing.

His brother, slightly taller and with green eyes, dropped his bags and walked back huffiedly to to the shivering figure.

"Vaughn! Come on, we have to keep moving. We have to go before they find us."

Vaughn just turned his head away, tears fighting at the corners of his eyes.

"Stupid, they aren't coming for us anymore! We've been gone for almost three days, AND we've come so far away! Why do we have to keep running?"  
Skye looked down at his brother, sighed and sat next to him. He knew Vaughn was just sad, hungry, and still scared at this whole thing.

_____

Two weeks ago, both of their parents died when their house caught on fire. They had been at school, where they heard sirens going off down the street outside. Someone's house must be on fire, they joked, before they learned what happened later that day.

After that, they stayed with the mayor, until after the funeral.

Skye had never seen Vaughn that sad before, staying in his room and crying for hours on end. He was just as sad, but tried to put on a straight face and tried to act brave enough for the both of them.

A few days after the funeral, it had been decided what would be done with the boys. The mayor told them that since they didn't have any other family, they would have to go to an orphanage where they would try to find them a new family.

Vaughn seemed alittle comforted by this, but Skye had a bad feeling. The next day, he snuck around and heard the mayor say it would be likely they would be separated if they were put up for adoption. Horrified, he told his brother, and they made plans to escape that night.

______

That night, they took shelter from the cold inside of a small cavern.

Vaughn was still grumpy and hungry, so he reached into his bag to try to find some food. All he found was old sandwich crust and a few berries they found in the woods. He stuffed them into his mouth, his stomach still growling painfully.

Skye sat down next to him, eyeing the bags.

"Is there anything left?"

Vaughn just shook his head, his tearstained eyes fixed on the wall. "Still hungry, though," he pouted.

"I'll go out and find some more food in the morning. Lets try to get some sleep, okay?"

He pulled out a big cover from his bag, and they laid down on the floor using their bags as pillows.

They sat in silence for a while, unable to fall asleep because of the still strange night sounds.

After a while Vaughn turned to his brother.

"Skye?"

"Yeah?"

"What do you think will happen? I mean, Do you think we did the right thing, running away like that?"  
Skye could sense the desparation in his voice, and knew that if he didn't stay strong, Vaughn would break down completely. But even he was unsure of what to do, or what to say.

"I don't know," he said at last. Vaughn almost started to cry at this, but he went on, "I don't know what will happen, but as long as we keep going, we're sure to get somewhere. I know we can't be more than a day away from the next town."

Vaughn sniffed back his tears and wiped his eyes. "But what are we going to do when we get there?"

Skye smiled softly to his brother. "Heh, we'll see when we get there I guess. Just as long as we stay together, I'm sure we'll be okay"

Vaughn sniffed some more and nodded. He was getting tired, so he rolled over and pulled the cover over his head.

"Skye?" He asked after a moment, feeling himself starting to drift off into sleep.

"Yeah, Vu-vu?"

"We'll stay together no matter what, right?"

"Of course. Nothing can tear us apart..."

Feeling content, Vaughn drifted off to sleep. Skye sat there, happy to have calmed his brother's fears. He looked out the cave entrance, worring about his own...

Vaughn awoke the next morning, stomach growling loudly with hunger. He startted to reach for his bag under his head, before remembering it was empty. He rolled over, hoping to ask Skye to help him find something for breakfast.

But as he rolled over, he saw that Skye wasn't there.

He sat bolt upright, suddenly scared. His eyes scanned the inside of the cave, looking for any sign of his brother. When he did'nt see him, Vaughn started to panic.

He got up and started to run towards the front of the cave. He was about to call out Skye's name when he saw a small pile of berries and shoots at the mouth of the cave.

Oh, he must be out getting more food already, Vaughn thought, calming down slightly.

He almost laughed at himself for being so silly and jumping to conclusions like that, until he saw something white among the food.

He bent down and pulled out a scrap of paper. It read:

"Vaughn, I'm so sorry, but you're on your own now."  
He stared at it in disbelief. No, This had to be a joke, right!?

He ran out the cave, frantically looking around for any sign of his brother.

He had to be somewhere close. He just had to be!

"SKYE! SKYE!! SKYYYYYYYE!!!"

No.

This wasn't happening.

Skye would never.....

We'll stay together no matter what, right?

He has to be around here somewhere...

Nothing can tear us apart...

No........

After what seemed like hours, Vaughn made his way back to the cave, his voice sore. He sat at the entrance, looking out, hoping to catch a glimpse of Skye.

Hours passed.

Finally, Vaughn, tears heavy in his eyes went back inside. He lay on the floor on the floor of the cave, and fitfully went to sleep.

When he awoke, it was early dawn the next morning. He looked around, praying that it had all been a dream and see his brother there.

But nothing in the cave had changed. There were no new footprints around him, and nothing had been moved.

He sat there in silence, taking it all in again as tears started rolling down his face.

His stomach growled louder than ever and he nearly doubled over in pain. he remembered the berries Skye had left at the front of the cave.

With the note...

Vaughn ate what little there was, not looking at the scrap of paper still there. He looked around and thought about what to do.  
He couldn't stay here forever. he had to move on. Even if....

He grabed his bag, and stepped out into the freshly fallen snow.

He was on his own now....

He walked on through the snow in the direction they had been traveling in. He walked on and on for hours, but never saw any tracks of any sign that someone had bee this way.

His mind raged on and on, buzzing with questions to painful to think about. He tried to stay focused on moving ahead, afraid he'd freeze if you started crying again.

By nightfall, he came to small town.

Too cold and numb to think, he headed for the nearest building he could see.

He opened up the barn door and stumbled in, glad to be out of the cold. All the animals were asleep, so didn't notice as he dragged himself to the far stall, collasped and fell asleep.

__

Vaughn now stood in front of the source of all of his pain, fears, and insecurities. He loathed the sight before him.

"When my Jill said she had run into someone who looked like me, I was hoping...." Skye began, tears starting to fill his eyes.

"Hoping WHAT!!?" Vaughn yelled, unable to control his temper.

"Vaughn....," Skye started taking a tenative step back. "I never meant to.."

"MEANT TO WHAT? TO LEAVE ME ALL ALONE, TO ABANDON ME FOR DEAD?" He yelled, his anger rising.

"Vu-vu, I never meant to-"

"DON'T CALL ME 'VU-VU'!!!!! NEVER CALL ME THAT AGAIN!"

"VAUGHN! You don't understand! I had no choice but to-"

Vaughn swung his fist around, striking Skye on the side of the head with all of his anger.

Skye dropped like a rock from the force of the blow. He landed hard on the ground, starting to taste blood.

Vaughn stood over him, breathing heavily. His rage started to die down a little, and he just looked down at the helpless figure on the ground.  
He wanted to hit him again, but something inside held him back.

It wasn't worth it. Somehow, all those years of pent up anger just seemed pointless now.

He turned away, and started heading down the path.

As he turned to go, Skye sobbed after him, "Vaughn, I'm so sorry...."

"So am I." Vaughn said softly. "So am I......"


	5. The Gift

Chapter Five- The Gift

Vaughn could hardly sleep that night. In fact, he didn't sleep at all.

He was up all night pacing around his room in a vicious rage. The nerve of him! He still couldn't believe that Skye really was here after all of that time. And he was a _THIEF_, no less.

He had had a feeling about this ever since he was nearly attacked on his first visit to this place. He dared to hope it was someone, ANYONE else, but then that girl went and called him by his name.

He punched the wall. He knew he should have left right then, and never came back to this place. He would have told Dale that he would never, ever ship animals here again.

But he had stayed. For some reason, he decided to stay put and spend the night in the valley.

Vaughn thought that maybe, deep down, he had stayed just on the small hope of finally seeing Skye again. That thought sickened him.

"Hey!" Someone began pounding on the door.

He opened it to see the annoyed face Of the innkeeper's blonde son, Rock.

"Do you mind not banging on the walls? I heard you all the way from my room three doors down! Some of us need our beauty sleep, especially me. Its not easy being this hot all the time!" He said, pointing to himself.

Vaughn looked at him for a long while. Was this guy for real?

"Sorry," he grunted, slamming the door in Rock's face.

He went back over to his bed, Rock's annoyed words muffled behind. He lay down, his mind trailing back to thoughts of his brother.

The next morning, Vaughn packed his stuff and headed for the entrance to the valley. It was early, so everyone was still just waking up.

He just hoped he didn't run onto Skye again...

"Vaughn!"

He whipped around at the sound of his name, and was quickly annoyed to see the brunette rancher running towards him.

She stopped in front of him, breathing heavily.  
"I'm so glad I caught up to you," She panted. "I thought I'd miss you."

"What do you want?" He asked, before remembering who she was. "Wait a minute, aren't you Jill?"

"Yes, yes that's me," She said nodding her head vigoriously.

He quickly turned his back to her and stared walking away again. "Get lost. I don't need one of my brother's fangirls harassing me."

Jill stood shocked and confused for a moment, but quickly snapped back when she saw Vaughn was walking away from her.

"Wait! Skye wanted me to give you something!" She yelled after him.

He stopped and gave her a cold stare.

"So, he thinks he can send his girlfriend over to apologize and I'm supposed to forgive him!? Nothing he can say or do will ever make me forgive him. He's dead to me. Always has been, always will be. Just take back whatever he gave you and go home."

He started to leave again, but Jill grabbed his arm before he could take another step. He snapped back around intending to push her off of him, but he stopped when he saw the angry tears fighting at her eyes.

"Never say that again. You have no idea what happened to Skye back there. He'd tell you if you gave him half the chance!" She breathed, giving him the most unforgiving stare in his life.

Vaughn could only stand there under that cold gaze, felling more increasingly more ashamed as the seconds passed.

"All he wants is for you to give him a second chance," she said, shoving something into his hands. "He's your brother, your only brother. Just give him one last chance."

She stormed off after that leaving Vaughn still frozen in place. He was surprised at how deeply her words had cut into him.

He looked down at the thing she had placed in his hand. It was a small silver pendant.

His mother's pendant.

He nearly broke right then and there. He never knew Skye had held onto it for so long. Waves of guilt washed over him as he stared down at it.

He breathed deeply, delicately putting it on and tucking it under his scarf. After a moment, he picked his bags back up, and once again headed for the entrance to the valley.

Maybe, just maybe he thought, he would come back again. He just might give Skye one last chance...

_______________

Okay, this may be a little shorter than my other chapters. I've noticed that I have a tendency to put like two scences in my previous chapters, so I've decided to slow down and break up my ideas better. Trust me, I was going to put in this whole nother part in for my new purple heart event back on the island. But I'll pace myself and work out each part to make it better.


End file.
